Mattress with a quilted panel

ABSTRACT

A panel for a mattress including first and second fabric layers joined together along their edges and a padding material between said fabrics. The padding material includes at least a layer of resilient foam provided with through-holes. The foam layer is quilted between the first and second fabric layers. A method of manufacturing the panel includes forming a resilient foam body provided with recesses, horizontally cutting a plurality of single layers in the body in the recesses portion to result in at least one layer with through-holes, sandwiching at least one of the single layers provided with through-holes in each panel between the first and second fabric layers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/059,476 filed Mar. 31, 2008, incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mattress comprising at least onequilted panel and manufacturing method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For a better understanding of the invention, the elements and termsherein used are now set forth.

As it is well known, a mattress mainly includes a body, generallyrectangular in shape, sandwiched between a covering consisting of anupper and a lower panel seamed together by stitching a peripheral band.

Each panel includes two fabrics with a padding material in between,herein after called “padding”.

The padding is integral with the two fabrics by means of stitchingoperations called quilting, from which the term “quilted panel”originates.

Between two quilted portions such panels may be 2-8 cm. thick.

The mattress body may be made of different materials and in a number ofconfigurations, for example, making use of a set of springs, someinflatable members or a block of cellular resilient material, such as aresilient foam provided with recesses, for example natural or syntheticlatex foam.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,746 describes a mattress including a polyurethanefoam body sandwichable between two quilted panels joined together by aperipheral band extending only on three sides, the fourth side beingprovided with a zip to allow the polyurethane foam body to be insertedand pulled out.

The body includes tapered openings obtained by means of a cutting deviceprovided with rollers rotating each in an opposite direction and with acutting blade.

Each panel is made as stated above.

The padding material of each panel consists of polyester cotton battingjoined to the two panel fabrics by means of a suitable localizedquilting.

In a cross section, the panel is a double wave with juxtaposed folds dueto the stitching of the two fabrics.

It should be noted that, besides being comfortable for the user, amattress should ensure, through a quick passage of the air, theevaporation of moisture collected during the user's sleep.

In fact, sweat absorbed by the mattress materials is believed to reach0.3-0.8 litre per night.

Generally air can easily pass through the mattress body, as it isapparent, for sake of simplicity, when thinking of a spring mattress;however such favourable passing-through of the air completely depends onthe resistance the air encounters when going through the quilted panels.

The prior art quilted panels may include, as seen, polyester cottonbatting or in other embodiments, curled hair, wool and synthetic cardedfibres, cotton fibres, coir or a combination thereof and also othermaterials known on the market.

Unfortunately the approaches known are not satisfactory as fortranspiration.

Generally the prior art quilted panel presses under the user's weightpacking the material which results in poor aeration of the mattress andin keeping most of the moisture collected during the night.

The goal of the present invention is to provide a mattress including atleast one quilted panel, preferably the one the user lies on, whosepadding material is able to improve the mattress transpiration as awhole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the present invention is therefore to provide a panelfor a mattress comprising first and second fabric layers joined togetheralong their edges and a padding material between said two fabrics,characterized in that said padding material comprises at least a layerof resilient foam provided with through-holes, said layer of resilientfoam being quilted between said first and second fabric layers.

Preferably the ratio between the thickness of the resilient foam layerwith through-holes and the total thickness of the fabric layers rangesfrom 0.5 to 1.

Suitably the resilient foam layer provided with through-holes is apolyurethane foam or even more preferably a latex foam, preferentiallyof uniform thickness all over.

Said through-holes in the resilient foam layer can be made in a numberof ways, for example, by punching the resilient foam layer.Advantageously the resilient foam layer has 6 to 84 through-holes/dm²and typically the resilient foam of the layer includes through-holeswith a diameter of 1 to 3 mm and more preferably between 8 and 24 mm.Preferentially said layer of latex foam with through holes is cut assingle layer in a moulded cellular latex foam body with recesses.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a mattressincluding a body sandwiched between an upper and a lower panel,characterized in that at least one of the panels includes at least onelayer of resilient foam provided with through-holes as mentioned above.Said body may be of a number of different types, a spring body or madeof polyurethane foam, an air or water body or of any other type on themarket.

Suitably in the mattress, the upper and power panels are the same.

Typically the mattress body consists of at least one layer of cellularlatex foam with recesses.

Advantageously the mattress characterizes in that said resilient foamlayer provided with through-holes of said panels and said at least onelayer of resilient foam provided with through-recesses of said body aremade of resilient foam having the same physical and mixturecharacteristics.

Advantageously the mattress comprises at least a latex foam layer withthrough-recesses.

In a third aspect, the present invention relates to a method ofmanufacturing a panel for a mattress, said panel comprising a first andsecond fabric layer joined together along their edges and a paddingmaterial in between said two fabric layers, said material consisting ofat least one layer of resilient foam provided with through-holes, saidfoam layer being quilted between said first and second fabric layers,said method comprising the step of manufacturing a resilient foam bodybetween two substantially planar faces spaced apart at a predetermineddistance, said resilient foam body being formed with recesses extendingfor at least one portion of said distance transversally to said twofaces, said method being characterized by the steps of:

a) cutting a plurality of layers in said resilient foam body parallel tothe surface of said faces in the portion where said recesses are, eachof said plurality of resilient foam layers including through-holes;

b) sandwiching padding material including at least one of said layersprovided with through-holes in each panel between said first and secondfabric layers.

Preferably the method is further characterized by the steps of:

c) continuously feeding a first fabric sheet;

d) associating together in succession and side by side said plurality ofresilient foam layers with through-holes to said first fabric sheet andforming a group comprising said first fabric sheet and said plurality oflayers;

e) winding up in concentric coils that group;

f) continuously feeding the unwinding coils of said group towards apredetermined stitching station;

g) continuously superimposing a second fabric sheet to the resilientfoam layers with through-holes of said group;

h) quilting said resilient foam layers with through-holes to said firstand second fabric sheets and forming a continuous element for mattresspanels.

Conveniently, when put into practice, the method comprises the steps of:

-   -   forming a block of resilient foam including at least a first        lower foam layer with recesses to obtain the mattress body and a        second upper resilient foam layer with recesses to be used in        padding mattress panels;    -   cutting a plurality of single layers along horizontal planes in        said second upper resilient foam layer with recesses, each of        said plurality of single resilient foam layers including        through-holes;    -   sandwiching at least one of said single layers with        through-holes in each panel between said first and second fabric        layers.

Preferably the method comprises the step of preparing mixtures differentfrom one another to constitute said lower resilient foam layer withrecesses and said upper resilient foam layer with recesses.

Typically the method comprises the step of moulding the recesses of saidupper foam layer with a decreasing section from top to bottom, forexample, in a conical shape with its vertex inwards the foam.

Still preferably, the method provides the step of manufacturing saidresilient block using latex foam.

The present invention will be now described in details with reference tothe accompanying drawings, which are only to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive, where:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal section of a cellular latex foammattress sandwiched between two quilted panels;

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a known type plant forcontinuously manufacturing the body of the cellular latex foam mattress;

FIG. 3 is an extension of the plant of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the body of the latex foammattress manufactured using the plant shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the device used for cutting the horizontallayers of a latex foam mattress;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the mattress body after thehorizontal layer has been cut;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal view of the device used for associatingmultiple layers of resilient foam with through-holes to a continuousfabric sheet;

FIG. 8 shows the device for quilting the resilient foam layer withthrough-holes between two sheets of fabric in order to obtain twoquilted panels for mattresses;

FIG. 9 is a schematic longitudinal view of a plant for continuouslymanufacturing a foam block to form both a mattress body and foam layersfor mattress panels;

FIG. 10 is a partial longitudinal section of the block obtained usingthe plant shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 shows the block of FIG. 10 and the cutting of single layers inthe block upper portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a mattress 1 made up of a latex foam body 2 comprisingthrough-recesses 3 sandwiched between two upper and lower quiltedpanels, respectively 4 and 5, each being an aspect of the presentinvention, as discussed herein below.

The two panels 4, 5 are joined together by a peripheral band of fabric 6stitched at the ends 7, 8 of each panel side.

In the most preferred exemplary description, panels 4, 5 aremanufactured in the same way, therefore panel 5 has the same numericalreference as panel 4.

As it is apparent from FIG. 1, each panel advantageously offers thehighest transpiration thanks to the novel presence of at least one latexfoam layer 9 provided with several through-holes 10.

The latex foam layer 9 lies between two fabrics 11, 12 and made toadhere to them by means of quilting in different locations 13.

In order to ensure high transpiration, the through-holes 10 in the latexfoam layer may be densely configurated. In particular the number ofthrough-holes protruding on to the two outer surfaces of layer 9 may bedozens of through-holes/dm², for example up to 60-80 through-holes/dm²,their diameters ranging from 1 to 30 mm, preferably between 8 and 24 mm.

In practice, it should be noted that the whole mattress is manufacturedusing high transpiration materials throughout its thickness, includingpanels provided with cellular latex foam panels with through holes andfabrics which are naturally highly permeable to air, as well as a body 2with densely distributed recesses 3.

Recesses 3 distribution in the body 2 may be the same as or differentfrom that of the through-holes 10 in the layer 9.

In the example described here above, the recesses in the body 2 and thethrough-holes 10 in the layer 9 have the same distribution, moreoverrecesses 3 in the body 2 are aligned with the through-holes 10 in thelayers of the two panels 4, 5.

Therefore the present invention allows to provide panels 4, 5 whosemaximum transpiration substantially equals that of the body 2 of themattress 1.

In an alternative embodiment of the mattress, a first panel may consistof a latex foam padding provided with through-holes and a second panelhaving conventional padding, comprising layers of cotton batting and/orcompact foam.

In a second alternative, one of the two panels in a same kind ofmattress, may have a ratio of thickness 0.5:1 between the resilient foamlayer 9 and the total thickness of the whole padding material betweenthe fabric layers 11, 12.

The above mentioned thickness values are taken at the maximum height oflayer 9 between two stitchings at location 13.

The panel manufactured according to the above mentioned alternativesshows lower transpiration than that described in the embodiment shown inFIG. 1 but still higher than the panels having the padding of the priorart consisting of cotton batting layers and/or thick stuffing throughoutthe panel thickness.

Once again referring to the above mentioned example, the body 2 of themattress 1 and the layer 9 of the two panels 4, 5 may be made ofresilient foam having the same mixture characteristics.

A latex foam having a density between 35 and 150 Kg/m³ and an ultimateelongation between 50 and 300 have proved to be suitable for the body 2and the layer 9.

The mattress in FIG. 1 may be manufactured following different methodsstarting from a first step allowing to manufacture the block making upthe body 2 of latex foam with recesses 3 and then a second step for theproduction of panels 4, 5 and finally the assembling of the body 2 withpanels 4, 5.

In an embodiment, the body made up of latex foam 2 bearing recesses 3may be manufactured in a single, ordinary mould consisting of amould-hollow and respective cover.

However, as explained hereafter, it proved convenient—in view of theachievable advantages—to adopt a continuous moulding method tomanufacture the resilient foam body of the mattress.

Such a continuous method uses the plant 14 depicted in FIGS. 2, 3.

The body 2 of the mattress 1 manufactured using plant 1 is illustratedin FIG. 4.

This body has two parallel faces T at a predetermined distance from eachother.

As it is clearly visible from FIG. 4, a plurality of recesses 3 extendsover a portion of the body 2, transversally to the two faces.

The plant 14 comprises a first laying member 15 continuously moving inthe direction shown by arrow F, between a first station 16, where asuitable device 17 injects the latex foam material, and a second station18 where a vulcanised latex layer 19 is removed; the layer 19 has beenvulcanised, while passing through the tunnel member 20, located betweenstations 16, 18.

Preferably the tunnel member 20 provides the gelling and vulcanisingmeans; to that end the tunnel member 20 is divided into a first gellingchamber and a successive second vulcanising chamber.

The tunnel is heated by suitable heating means, preferably hot carrierfluids and still more preferably flowing vapour.

The laying member 15 includes a plurality of metal protrusions 21destined to mould the recesses 3. (FIG. 4).

The first laying member 15 can be of a variety of types, a continuousrotary belt moving between two pulleys (not shown) or in the form ofadjacent plates connected to two chains moving around said two pulleysor by means of laying planes of trucks following an annularconfiguration.

According to a preferred embodiment, it is provided a laying member 15comprising trucks moving along two branches connected by arcs of acircle, respectively an upper branch where the trucks contact oneanother and a lower branch where the trucks are spaced apart, are fewerthan the upper ones and move at a higher speed than the trucks of theupper branch.

As the preferred embodiment of the trolleys and their handling along thetwo branches is fully described in EP Patent 0 995 144, for the sake ofsimplicity, description thereof is omitted.

Going back to the description of plant 14, a further stretch 22 of abelt or a similar handling system is provided to follow the layingmember 15.

Such stretch 22 is continuously moved by means of independent operationmeans whose description has been omitted as being of an ordinary type.

Between the laying member 15 and the stretch 22 a pair of rollers 23 isprovided. They rotate in opposite directions so as to draw thecontinuous foam layer 19 passing in between and move such layer from thelaying member 15 to stretch 22.

The handling of stretch 22 drives the continuous foam layer 19 to afirst cutting station 24 to form single mattress bodies made bysuccessive cuts transversal to the advancing direction of the foam layer19.

At the end of the cycle, the single body 2 lies on to the surface of theunloading station 25.

The method described so far is already known.

The method for manufacturing the novel mattress panels whose body 2 hasbeen manufactured making use of the plant shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 willnow be described.

For the sake of a simpler description, it must be pointed out thatunlike what is depicted in FIG. 4 where the body 2 has a foam thicknesson top of the recesses, a body 2 of the mattress 1 provided withthrough-recesses 3 will be discussed herein after.

We are now back to the final position of the plant shown in FIG. 3,specifically at the unloading station 25 where the body 2 including alatex foam portion 19 is.

The panel manufacturing method is performed by the steps of:

-   -   carrying the latex foam body 2 from the loading station 25 to        the horizontal plane 26 of a second cutting station 27        performing cuts parallel to the horizontal plane 26 (FIG. 5);        here the body 2 will be cut up in a plurality of single parallel        latex foam layers 9 with through-holes;    -   moving a cutting blade 28 parallel to the horizontal plane 26        from a rest position to the subsequent cutting operations, shown        with dashed lines in the direction of arrow f;    -   cutting the body 2 at a predetermined thickness value “t” using        blade 28 and obtaining a first single latex foam layer 9 bearing        through-holes 10 (FIG. 6);

Preferably such thickness “t” should be in the range between 10 and 40mm, even more preferably between 15 and 35 mm.

The cutting operations of the blade 28 will be successively repeateduntil a plurality of single latex foam layers 9 bearing through-holes 10is provided.

The panel manufacturing method further proceeds with the operations ofassembling a first fabric sheet on several latex foam layers 9 bearingthrough-holes 10,forming a first group of one panel, of assembling suchfirst group with an overhanging second fabric sheet and of implementinga continuous quilted band for panels.

In details the above method proceeds with the steps of:

-   -   transferring the plurality of single latex foam layers 9 with        through-holes 10 from the second cutting station 27 to a first        assembly station 29 (FIG. 7);    -   continuously advancing, along a planar surface 30 of a specially        provided table 31, a first fabric sheet 32, preferably an        unwoven fabric, unwound from a loading bobbin 33 and wound on a        winding-on bobbin 34;    -   associating to said first continuous fabric sheet 32, side by        side, preferably by gluing, said plurality of latex foam layers        9 with through-holes 10 thus forming a continuous assembling        group 35 comprising said first continuous fabric sheet 32 and        said plurality of layers 9 with through-holes 10;    -   winding up in concentric coils said first group 35 on the        winding-on bobbin 34;    -   transferring said winding-on bobbin 34 near a second assembling        station 36 (FIG. 8) including a stitching device 37 well-known        on the market;    -   continuously feeding the coils unwound by said first group 35        from the winding-on bobbin 34 towards said second station 36        following the direction of the stitching device 37;    -   continuously unwinding from a second winding-on bobbin 38 a        second fabric sheet 39 and directing said second continuous        fabric 39 towards the stitching device 37;    -   continuously superimposing said second fabric sheet 39 on the        latex foam layers 9 of said first group 35 while passing through        rollers 40 each rotating in an opposite direction;    -   quilting said latex foam layers 9 with through-holes 10 onto        said first and second fabric layers 32, 39 while passing through        the stitching station 37, thus forming a continuous band 41 for        mattress panels;    -   cutting said continuous band 41 into preferred sizes in order to        provide a sequence of first mattress panels 4;    -   repeating the previous steps to form a sequence of mattress        panels 5.

The next steps allowing to assemble the two panels 4, 5 to the body 2 ofthe mattress 2 and to stitch the peripheral band 6 are performedfollowing well-known techniques, therefore they will be omitted for thesake of simplicity.

In order to explain how it was possible to overcome the problems andappreciate the advantages related to the invention, the followingconsiderations should be taken into account.

At first the main idea was the maximum possible transpiration whichcould be found in a mattress body; therefore the body of a springmattress was the first thing that came into mind.

In this case there is no difficulty as to the passing of the air but thefree space allowed by the springs could not be transferred into asimilar pattern for a quilted panel.

Consequently mattresses having a resilient foam body with recessesthrough which air may easily flow were taken into consideration.

Therefore an attempt has been that of applying such a solution to thepadding material of a panel.

However in this case no solution appeared to be feasible.

As a matter of fact the body of the cellular latex foam mattress mustnecessarily have a high thickness, between 10 and 20 cm, and even more;this because the metal protrusions used in the moulding of the recessesmust extend height-wise in order to transmit vulcanisation heat in aneven and homogeneous way all over the cellular mass to be chemicallystabilized to avoid having a poor product.

In other words, it is not possible to mould cellular latex foam bodieswith recesses when adopting protrusions of few centimetres. In practiceconventional techniques providing moulds and continuous methods usingprotrusions to mould foam products with very thin recesses suitable forfilling a panel proved to be inadequate.

Therefore it did not appear obvious to take advantage of the goodtranspiration of a cellular latex foam body and then adopt it to thepadding material of a panel.

The idea then was that it might be possible—somehow—to cut up a bodyhaving a considerably thick cellular latex foam with recesses and toadapt it to thickness values which might be suitable for a panel.

However, once again, signs were found out which were unfavourable toproceed as thought as it meant destroying or somehow adapting a body ofa considerably thick mattress in order to obtain a product meant for adifferent use.

Moreover it was believed that adapting the body of the cellular foammattress with recesses having high thickness in view of obtaining muchsmaller thickness would require special and quite expensive equipment.

In fact it should be noted that a latex foam mixture is an aqueousdispersion in which a great quantity of water absorbs the latexparticles.

For example if the total amount of the latex foam mixture is 100 partsin weight, the amount of the dry-part is 60 parts in weight and theamount of water is 40 parts in weight.

Even though the amount of water in the different manufacturing steps ofthe body 2 is gradually decreasing, the weights involved are undoubtedlyconsiderable.

What mentioned above is however understandable when referring to thebody of a single latex foam mattress having a surface of 80 cm by 190 cmand a height of 20 cm and more, and when reference is made to bodies ofdouble mattresses having a surface of 180 cm by 200 cm and a heightbetween 20 and 30 cm; all of which having densities that may reachhundreds of grams/litre.

Therefore it turned out that it was impossible to find a solution to theproblem owing to the fact that it did not seen wise to destroy theblocks of resilient foam meant for the manufacturing of mattress bodiesand also because of the considerable sizes and weights of such blocksenvisaging possible cutting operations.

Afterwards observing some rejections related to the bodies of latex foammattresses bearing faults which did not involve the whole mass, the ideawas that their substantially integral parts might be used, as well asthe cutting of the block without affecting the ordinary production ofcellular foam bodies.

Furthermore it was perceived that it might be possible to cut the blocksin a quite simple way taking advantage of the fact that such heavyblocks facilitated the manufacture and/or the employment of un-expensiveequipment.

In practice it was considered that the above mentioned blocks, justbecause of their weight and size, might allow the use of a simplecutting blade driven along horizontal planes of the block without havingto use other retaining devices on the block.

Eventually having perceived the possibility of experimenting thesuitability of the foam block in order to obtain padding material forthe panels, the final solution started to be followed by using bothrejection blocks which might be cut into layers having no faults andintegral blocks meant for the manufacturing of mattress bodies.

Going back to the operative steps of the method, it should be noted thatduring the cutting operation, the body 2 stays firmly on plane 26 in anunchanged position (FIG. 5) withstanding the tangential cutting thrustseven without balancing pressures on the upper surface of the body 2.

Advantageously the blade 28 is able to cut a latex foam layer 9 having auniform thickness all over, ensuring a correct geometrical configurationof through-holes 10.

Favourably such a step of horizontal cutting is performed consideringthe initial geometry of the cell distribution 3 wherefrom through-holes10 of the layer 9 originate.

A further way to perform the method of obtaining quilted panels formattresses and mattresses thereof is described here after.

The description makes use of the plant shown in FIG. 9 where theelements performing the same function as those in FIGS. 2 and 3 have thesame numerical references.

In FIG. 9, number 42 refers to a plant for continuously manufacturing alatex foam block 2, consisting of at least two latex foamlayers—respectively (FIG. 10) the first 19, or basic block layer 2,whose lower surface is in contact with the laying surface 15 providedwith protrusions 21 to obtain recesses 3, the second 43 having the innersurface touching the outer surface of the first layer 19.

The plant 1 includes gelling and vulcanisation means.

Near the first station 16 a first device for the injection and laying 17of a first basic mixture of latex foam, which will make up the firstbase layer 19, is located and spaced apart from the first station asecond device for the injection and laying 44 of a second mixture oflatex foam, which will make up the second layer 43, is located.

Said laying devices 17 and 44 move transversally to the feedingdirection of the laying surface 15.

The laying devices 17 and 44 are connected to their own latex mixersconsisting of a number of tanks and equipment including control-feeding,supplying and connecting equipment.

For the sake of a short description, said mixers have been referred towith two tanks 45, 46 only provided with suitable pipes connecting themto the laying devices 17, 44 wherefrom the two latex foam mixtures flowout.

The plant comprises two doctor blades 47, 48 for the two latex foammixtures.

The plant makes use of a plurality of metal members 49 provided withprotrusions 50 jerking out of the base and bound towards the bottom tomake the upper recesses 51 on the second layer.

Such protrusions 50, shown in the exemplary description, have a conicalshape with their vertex downwardly directed for the reason which will beexplained further on.

Such members 50 are applied in a continuous sequence on to the outersurface of the second layer going through the first gelling chamber aswell as the second vulcanising chamber in which vapour reaches atemperature of about 100° C.

The members 50 preferably have a planar configuration and are made ofaluminium; they move along two substantially horizontal lengths, anactive length 52 and an inactive rest length 53.

In the inactive rest length plates 50 collected at B, downstream thetunnel device 20 are positioned at C before being driven back to theinlet A of the tunnel device.

The plurality of plates 50 is moved along the ABCD configuration shownin FIG. 9 by suitable operation means.

It is worth mentioning here that such operation means may includemechanical or pneumatic drives for vertical lifting and lowering as wellas conveyor belts in the upper length CD.

To operate the plant, a first natural rubber latex and a second latexmade, for example, from synthetic rubber—such as a butadiene styrenepolymer and the respective components of the two latexes are preparedseparately, being subject to mixing by mechanical mixing means.

The components include surfactants, vulcanising agents like sulphur andaccelerators, antioxidizers to prevent ageing of the finished-product,fillers, oils, stabilizers.

Before being added to the latex, the components are turned into anaqueous dispersion by special mechanical means in order to reduce theparticle sizes.

The two dispersion media are added to the aqueous dispersion in therespective tanks 45, 46 where suitable blade rotors are turned on so asto ensure a homogeneous dispersion of the materials.

In a further step, hereafter called foaming step, pressurized air issupplied inside the two tanks so as to obtain two latex foam mixtures.

Foaming is achieved by pressurized air and mechanical mixing.

The foam density is controlled by varying the ratio between air amountand latex flow rate.

The method is carried out using two different mixtures as the respectivematerials may have different chemical properties.

Further one or more process parameters may be chosen to achieve adifferent cellular structure in the two mixtures.

Preferably the method provides two latex from mixtures with differentdensities.

By adopting such a feature, a latex block 2 is initially obtained,comprising the mattress body consisting of the lower layer 19 withrecesses 3 and a portion of foam consisting of the upper layer 43 withrecesses 51.

The upper foam portion 43 will perform a plurality of single foam layerswith through-recesses which can be used as padding material for a numberof mattress panels.

To this end, the whole foam block 2 is driven from the unloading station25 (FIG. 10) to the cutting device 27 (FIG. 5) where the horizontalcutting of single latex foam layers 9 bearing through-holes 10 iscarried out on the upper portion 43.

As clearly seen in FIG. 11, the method advantageously allows tomanufacture padding layers 9 for quilted panels provided withthrough-holes 10 having the initial geometrical configuration ofprotrusions 50.

It is thus possible to select the degree of transpiration required for aspecific mattress panel considering the predetermined diameters of thethrough-holes.

Particularly, the method allows to meet different requirements connectedwith the making of a quilted panel.

In fact it is possible to obtain the same mixture density of the firstand second tanks 45, 46 (FIG. 9) so that the quilted panel ishomogeneous with the mattress body 19 or even to have a mixture densityof the second tank 46 which results different from that of the firsttank 45 in order to differentiate the performances of the quilted panelfrom those of the mattress body.

The difference in density is achieved, for example, by providing, in thefirst tank 45, an amount of air smaller than the latex while in thesecond tank an amount of air higher than the latex.

According to a particular embodiment of the method it is envisageable toadd to the latex contained in the second tank 46—together with othercomponents—also single or multiple batches of materials resulting moresuitable to a quilted panel meant for the mattress body.

The panel manufacturing method is then carried out as already describedwith reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

1. A panel for a mattress comprising: first and second fabric layersjoined together along their edges and a padding material between saidfabric layers said padding material comprising at least a layer ofresilient foam provided with through-holes, said foam layer beingquilted between said first and second fabric layers.
 2. A panelaccording to claim 1, wherein the ratio between the thickness “s” ofsaid resilient foam layer bearing through-holes and the total thickness“S” of said padding material between said fabric layers ranges from 0.5to
 1. 3. A panel according to claim 1, wherein said at least oneresilient foam layer with through-holes is a latex foam.
 4. A panelaccording to claim 1, wherein said at least one resilient foam layerincludes from 6 to 84 through-holes/dm².
 5. A panel according to claim1, wherein said at least one resilient foam layer comprisesthrough-holes having a diameter of 1-30 mm.
 6. A panel according toclaim 3, wherein at least one latex foam layer has a density between 35and 150 Kg/m³.
 7. A panel according to claim 3, wherein said one latexfoam layer is cut as single layer in a moulded cellular latex foam bodywith recesses.
 8. A mattress comprising a body sandwiched between anupper panel and a lower panel, wherein at least one of the panels isaccording to claim
 1. 9. A mattress according to claim 8, wherein saidupper panel and said lower panel are the same.
 10. A mattress accordingto claim 8, wherein said body comprises at least a resilient foam layerwith recesses.
 11. A mattress according to claim 10, wherein said atleast one resilient foam layer bearing through-holes of said panels andsaid at least one layer of resilient foam with recesses of said body aremade of a resilient foam having the same physical and mixturecharacteristics.
 12. A mattress according to claim 11 wherein saidrecesses of said body are through-recesses.
 13. A mattress according toclaim 10, wherein said resilient foam of said body is a latex foam.14-18. (canceled)
 19. A panel according to claim 1, wherein said atleast one resilient foam layer comprises through-holes having a diameterbetween 8 and 24 mm.